Those who are involved in Barnstable Hockey no doubt remember the smiling face of Caroline Fries, manager of the 2007 girls varsity team that won the state championship that year.

They also remember that Fries waged a fierce battle against cancer before passing away on Jan. 25, 2009.

Although Fries is gone, friends, fans and family members believe that she is with them always, especially at the Kennedy Rink, a place she truly loved.

This weekend, in honor of Fries and to mark the anniversary of her passing, the Cape Cod Cubs are holding a special Pink Weekend.

In each of their games (Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 24 at noon) the Cubs will don custom-made pink jerseys when they take the ice against the Maine Moose. Following the Sunday game, the jerseys will be signed by the respective players and auctioned off, with all of the proceeds going to the Caroline Fries Foundation.

According to Cubs manager Scott MacPherson, the event came about after conversations with Caroline’s father, Wes, an assistant coach of the team. Caroline’s brother, Corbin, is a key player for the Cubs as well, and mom Christine works with the Barnstable Youth Hockey organization.

“It came about because of the fact that I think that the team has a responsibility to do some good in the community,” MacPherson said. “Because of that, we try to pay attention to what’s going on around us with our players, with their families and with their friends. I didn’t have to look very far with an assistant coach, a team captain, and the registrar of Barnstable Youth Hockey being the Fries family, who are coming up on a very important anniversary of their daughter Caroline’s death.”

At first the idea was to have the team wear pink only at the Jan. 24 game. When word spread about the Pink event, however, MacPherson and Cubs head coach Dan Hodge, in cooperation with the Fries family and the Hyannis Youth and Community Center, decided to turn it into a weekend event.

“It just kind of mushroomed to the whole weekend,” said Caroline’s father, Wes. “My initial reaction was that I thought it was a fantastic idea. It was a good way to jump start the endowment that we’re trying to put together.

Right now the Endowment is a work in progress. According to Wes Fries, David Chase, chairman of the Hyannis Youth and Community Center Foundation, approached the family with the idea of creating something to have Caroline’s memory continue on.

Fries said that since Caroline would have graduated this year, the Caroline M. Fries Endowment is working to create scholarships for students heading to college.

Fries said the Endowment also wants to give out scholarships to help defray the costs of athletic fees for young hockey players or figure skaters.

“Caroline was always the girl that no matter who you were would make you feel comfortable,” he said. “She was always there if people needed help. We want to continue that.”

MacPherson would like to see everyone in the Youth Hockey organization get involved, also.

“Our players are going to wear pink throughout the two games. What we would like to see is all the youth hockey teams do something along the same lines – pink socks, pink tape on the sticks,” he said. “We’d like to see everybody get behind the foundation and help raise some money for kids either heading off to college, or kids who can’t afford to play hockey but want to play the sport that this young lady loved.”

Caroline, like her family, was known as a devoted hockey fan. Even when in the midst of treatments she did her best to come to every game, and always had encouraging advice for her team.

“Her parents say to me that she was a very thoughtful, very caring person, who was one of those people you meet who was instantly one of your best friends,” MacPherson said. “She had a way of including people, whether figure skating or hockey, into her inner circle.”

Although the Cubs are a diverse team, with many players coming from Russia, Canada or Norway, Hodge said that everyone is enthusiastic about Pink Weekend.

“Obviously it means a lot to the Cape Cod guys, the guys from the area. They’ve worm ‘CMF’ (Caroline Marie Fries) stickers on their helmets all year,” Hodge said. “As for the other players, I think they understand the cause and what it signifies. It’s become a cause that all sports are taking part of.”

Given the family’s longtime involvement in Barnstable Hockey, Hodge feels the Pink Weekend event is something everyone can take part in.

“It’s huge for the community,” he said. “It’s obviously a big cause. When you see Wes and Corbin, it obviously hits home even more because you have a personal connection to them. I’m looking forward to taking part in it.”

“It’s a good opportunity for everybody to understand what is going on,” said Fries, “And to see the boys wear their pink outfits.”

The 20 jerseys worn for the weekend will become part of a silent auction with bidding to start at $100. Other memorabilia pieces will be available as well, with all proceeds benefiting the Caroline Fries Endowment. For more information about the endowment visit http://www.hyannisyouth.org/2009/07/the-caroline-fries-endowment.

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